Swag recommendations, information and questions

[Chimpy]

G'day

I've been living in an ARB skydome swag out near Tibooburra for a week now and loving it. Almost enough room to sit up but I'm a tall bugger. I get a bit of claustrophobia and find most swags feel like a body bag. This thing rocks :lol:

cheers

Chimpy

 

[HeadsUp]

couple of points to think of when buying a swag.

If you're going to be backpacking deep into bush where you cant get a vehicle , then you can buy compact swags that weigh 2- 3 kg
(search for Oztrail biker or Oz Wild Rivers on ebay , $ 150 each) .
Be warned though they are very thin fabric and need waterproofing to keep out a little bit of the chill , i would call them a 3 season swag , plus the mattress is only 25 mm thick . You can be kinder to your bones and buy inflatable mattresses that are thicker ( 4 - 6 cm thick ) but they are 1.5 - 2.5 kg each and take up 60 cm long x 20 cm diameter . If you plan to use one of these in winter then make sure your sleeping bag is rated to at least a "comfort factor" of minus 10 celcius or 5 degrees below the anticipated lowest temps.

If you will have a vehicle with you then heavier swags ( 8 - 25 kg ) are available with more comfort .

Honestly , i think a tent can pack away smaller than the big swags and if its raining and you need to strip down and dry off its just not something you can do inside a swag.
Plus with a tent you have space for bags , books , lanterns etc so you can sit there and read if its pouring rain outside . try laying in a swag for 2 days of rain and you would be dreaming of tents all day and night.

One plus with swags is the star gazing. Most of them come with fold back roof and an inner lining of mosquito mesh so you can lay there with shooting stars overhead all night .

one thing to note whether you use swags or tents : zip them closed when you walk away to stop snakes going in for a snooze.

 

[Ben78]

Anyone know if you can buy just a basic zip up canvas swag no mattress etc? I already have good self inflating matresses etc and was looking for something that I can use for one nighters etc. Was going to go to the local canvas place but didn't want to end up paying more for a unfitted swag than just buying a complete swag. Heck, I'm pretty sure a 10x8 canvas tarp would do the job for me lol!

 

[Mudguts]

Darche
Done me good for years

 

[Mitch59]

Darche
Done me good for years

Ditto

 

[Ben78]

Darche sell bare swags? I had a look but couldn't come up with any other than complete swags...

 

[Mudguts]

Yeah I think they call them Nike swags

 

[Ag Man]

Prolly just as cheap to buy a complete swag with mattress & put your self inflate one in instead.

We have 3 Burke & Wills Ironbark swags. Very happy with them. Just a basic bag with a fly screen

 

[Ben78]

Cheers, I was looking at the B&W Ironbark, pretty much what I am after.

 

[casper]

Hi Ben,
I know where you're coming from.... i do a bit of car based snow camping and it gets a bit chilly in the tent and the sleeping bag outer fabric gets damp and chilled so a couple of seasons ago i went to a canvas supplier got him to cut a 2x4 metre piece of canvas and fold it in half and sew in a heavy duty double ended YYK zipper down the long side and across the bottom. The inflatable mattress goes with in the sleeping bag and I can zip open the bottom for ventilation / temp control but the best thing is it reduces the pack up!! no more rolling and stuffing the sleeping bag into their ridiculously small carry bags and dealing with the mattress - i just roll the whole lot up into a roll ie "a bed roll" tie a rope around it and throw it in the back of the truck. A ready made bed and the finished canvas bag was less than $200

Casper

 

[phil]

gday nugget try to get a double if you can ive been using swags my whole life and the old ones where you use a rope either end are tops even the ones with a tent pole at end are okay both these are nice and quick i have a dome swag at the moment its ok but i find a bit of a pain in the arse to set up i only mentioned double because that little extra room is handy hope this helps

 

[goldtruck59]

The new Black Widow swag is great. Bit exy but roomy with lots of features. Checkout their web site and look in products. Just Google Black Widow. There's even a vid on it.

 

[Billy]

G'day Nugget, did you end up finding a swag?
I had one custom made for me about 20 years ago and it has kept me warm and dry for many an adventure. The things to look for if you go this way are quality stitching/zips etc and thickness of the canvas and mattress. It goes without saying that the length/width should suit the individual as well.
The first swag I ever slept in was an old shearers bed bit of foam with a blue tarp wrapped around it and when rolled up it was secured with an old leather belt. Rough and not fancy but did the job, and you just added blankets according to the weather at the time.
If you haven't got a swag yet and are going to then don't get bamboozeled (is that how you spell it?) by all the nifty gadgets and "doo-daas" just bare in mind that a swag should be portable, easily rolled out and best of all able to provide a good nights sleep without to much effort. The KISS principle applies

Good swaggin to ya, Billy.

 

[Nugget]

Thanks for the info everyone. Billy, I haven't made the purchase yet as I ended up getting myself a knockabout 4x4 which has more than enough room to sleep in. It might be something I'll revisit in the future and I'll be referring back to this topic when I do.

Nugget.

 

[Nugget]

Has anyone got an OZtrail Mitchell Single Swag? http://www.oztrail.com.au/product-range/camping-outdoors-tents/mitchell-swag-navy-by-oztrail if so, what are your thoughts?

 

[gcause]

I've got a Burke and Wills Gibson swag I got from Rays Outdoors a while back. They are Aussie made and have a lifetime warranty.

I only just decided to upgrade my sleeping arrangements and took Redfins advice and went out and bought a stretcher to put it on. I've got a bad back so its great to have the extra support now and I don't need to dig a hip hole anymore before setting it up.

Picked up a 150Kg rated Oztrail Jumbo single stretcher bed I got it from Cairns Camping supplies. Now I can just sit the swag on the stretcher which works great, its a perfect fit. Much more comfortable than being on the ground. Its way easier to get into and out of now and I can sit up in it now and I am off the ground when sleeping.

While I was there I saw that they were using a ridge pole to show off their swags in-store which I thought was a great idea so I bought one of them also. This means I now don't have to peg out the swag, its free standing.

Here's the pics I took when I was testing out the ridge pole arrangement in the lounge room as you do

Thats a -20c sleeping bag so I am toasty warm in there on cold nights. I added an Aldi self inflating sleeping mat for a bit more support for my back. I just roll the whole lot up so I can just roll it out and I am setup in a few minutes. The new stretcher goes up and folds down really quickly too which is great, heres a demo:

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXHvLj7fxjc[/video]

Hope this gives you some ideas for your setup.

 

[Nugget]

Nice setup gcause. I hadn't really thought about a stretcher but I'll be giving it some serious consideration now.

 

[backcreek]

Hay Nugget,
I bought two of these for my son and I for a trip we did to Cape York back in 2012.
I normally sleep in a water bed so I replaced the mattress with a 4".
We lived in them for 2 weeks and I really liked sleeping in them.
The only issue I had was getting the center pole into position when setting it up, just a bit fiddly.
Other than that I love it.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Anti...t=AU_Sleeping_Gear&hash=item3a96960332&_uhb=1

 

[stevo]

Im thinking of getting one of these..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5yaj6eqU0#t=74

 

[N61753]

My swag arrived 4 days ago. Ordered it on ebay before I saw this forum.
Did the usual research asked for advice from mates, checked a few camping forums.
Always wanted either small tent or swag.
Mate told me story of how he was trail riding up near snow line. Snowed that night, guy in tent had poor sleep he was toasty in his swag. But I know my mate all his gear would be top of the line.
I wanted one of those swags you can put in a back pack. Not the large units you see on shows like Malcolm Douglas or in the back of utes.
If you get a swag look for good damp proof base. The base on my swag stops the moisture but let's the cold through. Used it in back yard, grass on clay type soil, temperature 5 degree, sleeping bag rated down to -5. Terrible cold from ground, went right into my bones. Second night used a mattress type thing they use for aerobics. Temperature got down to 3 degree and I was nice and toasty. And I was only wearing PG's and a beanie. But it was uncomfortable I like to sleep on my side, my arm went to sleep. My mate tells me to use a lamps wool base. Not sure how to get that off the bed and try it out without the missus hitting the roof.
The next thing to look for is that your body does not touch the top of the swag, you need that air insulation. That's what I really like about the swag in the above photo, my swag has pull ropes.
Last thing I like to mention is we had some guys come from Germany. He told me to keep the sleeping bag in top thermal condition you need to wash it. The sweat from your body degrades the insulation properties. Also said use the special sleeping bag wash from camping stores. I have used my sleeping bag as a quilt for the last 20 years. I feel the cold bad.
One more thing when you seal up the swag with only a small air gap for breathing you very quickly get condensation on the inside of the swag. I was surprised how quickly it appeared.
When I get everything properly setup have been asking missus to drop me off for a few nights in the forest. But then my biggest worry is she is not going to pick me up.
Happy camping/gold detecting.